Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body.
Ron Sender,Shai Fuchs,Ron Milo +2 more
TLDR
This analysis updates the widely-cited 10:1 ratio, showing that the number of bacteria in the body is actually of the same order as the numberof human cells, and their total mass is about 0.2 kg.Abstract:
Reported values in the literature on the number of cells in the body differ by orders of magnitude and are very seldom supported by any measurements or calculations. Here, we integrate the most up-to-date information on the number of human and bacterial cells in the body. We estimate the total number of bacteria in the 70 kg "reference man" to be 3.8·1013. For human cells, we identify the dominant role of the hematopoietic lineage to the total count (≈90%) and revise past estimates to 3.0·1013 human cells. Our analysis also updates the widely-cited 10:1 ratio, showing that the number of bacteria in the body is actually of the same order as the number of human cells, and their total mass is about 0.2 kg.read more
Citations
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Introduction to the human gut microbiota
Elizabeth Thursby,Nathalie Juge +1 more
TL;DR: This review summarises the current understanding of the development and composition of the human GI microbiota, and its impact on gut integrity and host health, underlying the need for mechanistic studies focusing on host–microbe interactions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Are We Really Vastly Outnumbered? Revisiting the Ratio of Bacterial to Host Cells in Humans
Ron Sender,Shai Fuchs,Ron Milo +2 more
TL;DR: It is often presented as common knowledge that bacteria outnumber human cells by a ratio of at least 10:1, but it is found that the ratio is much closer to 1:1.
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The healthy human microbiome
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Bacteria and archaea on Earth and their abundance in biofilms
TL;DR: It is proposed that biofilms drive all biogeochemical processes and represent the main way of active bacterial and archaeal life and are the most prominent and influential type of microbial life.
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The Influence of the Gut Microbiome on Cancer, Immunity, and Cancer Immunotherapy
Vancheswaran Gopalakrishnan,Beth A. Helmink,Christine N. Spencer,Alexandre Reuben,Jennifer A. Wargo +4 more
TL;DR: An understanding of the microbiome's influence on immune responses and cancer is key, and factors influencing the gut microbiome and strategies to manipulate the microbiome to augment therapeutic responses are important.
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A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing
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Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography
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